


Crushcrushcrush

by loveandallthat



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, so many crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-30 20:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10171031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandallthat/pseuds/loveandallthat
Summary: It’s not Dex’s fault that his teammates are really, really good-looking, and also kind of amazing. But it makes it much harder to convince Nursey that what he feels for him is on a different level.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Paramore, of course.
> 
> This fic is so self-indulgent I’d gift it to myself if I could. It's also not beta read, and if you happen to see any errors I would LOVE if you would point them out.

It takes Derek a long time to notice, but to be fair, it’s pretty unexpected.

It’s just, one day they’re sitting in the kitchen while Bitty bakes, the best way to get the first slices of pie. Will is helping again, mixing dough together in a way that Bitty refers to as, “much less angrily than before.” (For weeks after that incident, Derek had been accusing Will of “walking much less angrily than before” and “studying much less angrily than before.” He had almost died laughing when Chowder had agreed.)

So Will is now trusted with a lot of the more important tasks, and Derek zips his lips on his relative certainty that Will kind of enjoys it, and he doesn’t touch any of it at all, and it works for them.

“That looks great, hon,” Bitty tells Will, whose ears immediately go red, as they always do when he receives a compliment. And quite often, in general. Derek thinks it’s cute, and of course he does, because seriously fuck his life.

“Thanks, Bits,” Will mumbles, not looking at him at all.

“Seriously, I couldn’t have done it better myself,” Bitty insists.

Will bites his lip, looking like he’s holding himself back from something. Derek’s trying really hard to make it seem like he’s focused on the poem he’s supposed to be writing, but the words keep changing, and his tone isn’t consistent. He’s given up on that pursuit.

Bitty puts his hand on Will’s arm, and Derek can literally see the moment he stops breathing.

“Do you want to try putting on the top crust?” Bitty asks.

“No, I--I couldn’t! I wouldn’t want to mess it up after all this work,” Will declined.

Bitty shrugged. “It happens to the best of us, but I won’t make you do it if you’re nervous. Although it’s easier with two people, if they can coordinate it!”

“Give it a try,” Derek suggests, laughing to himself when Will jumps like he forgot he was there. “It’ll be fine, but even if it isn’t, I’ll still eat it.”

“All of it?” Will smirks at him.

“Sure,” he agrees, easily. It might have been the expression or it might have been the thought of eating a product of Will and Bitty’s hard work, but either way, he was sure in that moment that he’d do it. It was more of an honor than a sacrifice to gorge oneself on Bitty’s baking, anyway.

“We can try it,” Will agrees, looking back to Bitty, who grins at him. Will is awkwardly tapping his fingers on the counter, Derek notices, but he’s still mostly content to observe with minimal interaction.

They go slowly; Bitty could have done it himself in half the time, but from Derek’s vantage point it looks just as good. They high five in a clap of flour, in enough of a good mood to overplay their accomplishment.

Bitty’s hand returns to Will’s arm. “Thanks, Dex.”

Sometimes Derek forgets that Bitty’s older than them, mostly when they’re protecting him on the ice or from weirdos at a party. But there’s a proud fondness in his voice, in his expression. Like he appreciates how far Will has come, but like he always knew that he’d get here eventually.

Or, Derek is projecting, hardcore.

Bitty still doesn’t trust them to take the pie out of the oven at the exact correct time. Derek understands not trusting him with it; he is aware of his own tendency to only be observant when he specifically wanted to do so. But Will is at least getting there.

While the pie bakes, Derek tries to use his few years of Andover French to help Bitty with some of his homework, since he’s so far out of the poetry zone, and Will works on some kind of coding assignment, involving staring at the screen for several minutes and then typing extremely quickly in small bursts. Derek has been writing poems, stories, and journals on a computer for years and probably can’t type half that fast.

They surprisingly get through it all, and Derek feels more helpful than he usually does when they all get together like this. He also feels closer to Bitty--literally, but also just in that they don’t talk all that often, lately. Chowder takes up a lot of his attention, as does Jack, and he seems to confide in Lardo a lot. And Ransom and Holster trample his boundaries in a way that he doesn’t actually seem to mind. So this is nice, for a change, even while Will looks back and forth between the two of them, brow furrowed.

Bitty jumps up a few seconds before the timer, like he has a sixth sense for it, and takes out the perfectly finished pie, judges it perfect and shuts and turns off the oven. He insists that they have to wait, but Will still walks over to it just to be near the smell. Derek can understand the desire. He’s surprised nobody else in the Haus has come down already.

It gets cool enough pretty quickly, and Bitty slices it and hands the first one to Will who, as usual, flushes. He gives the next one to Derek before he cuts his own, and Derek thinks, adorable Southern hospitality with none of the prejudice.

They all take their first bites and make their own sounds of contentment. It’s delicious, of course. Then Will looks up at both of them, and jerks his gaze back down. He moves his arm in the process, straight into his glass of water, which spills onto the counter and Bitty’s arm. It’s not a big deal, but he still rushes to right the glass, grab a towel, and swipe it across Bitty’s arms before he drops it on the counter to dry it.

Derek bites back a, “Chill, Poindexter,” but Will glares at him like he said it anyway. He puts his hands up to indicate his own innocence in the matter.

“Wow, Nursey, you’ve been rubbing off on him,” Bitty chirps.

Nursey rolls his eyes. “Must be.”

It’s at that moment that Ransom and Holster rush down the stairs to claim their own shares, and Derek tries to back out of the Haus slowly with nobody noticing. He trips over a pair of shoes, but manages to do it in a relatively quiet way, as far as tripping goes.

He’s halfway down the sidewalk away when Will catches up to him.

“Going back to your dorm?”

“I have to hit the library. I need to use one of the reference books you’re not allowed to check out.”

Will looks away. “Mind if I join you?”

It’s weird for them, asking. Will would usually just say, “I’ll come too,” or even just tag along without commenting.

He keeps looking at Derek like he’s expecting him to talk about it, so he finally caves. “So you were acting a bit strange today,” he says, trying for a conversational tone.

“Dumb, you mean,” Will grumbled.

Derek couldn’t help but snort at that. “Not exactly. More like . . . besotted?”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’re a poet.”

They turn the corner and Derek somehow miscalculates it and bumps his arm against Will’s. Neither of them comment, which is also unusual, so Derek figures this is a conversation worth continuing.

“I notice you’re not denying it,” he says, carefully.

Will sighs. “Would you believe me if I did?”

“Probably,” Derek admits, though he’s taking this more and more as a confirmation. “But it’s a little unexpected, to be fair.”

“That I’m into guys?” Will asks.

“Yes,” Derek answers honestly. “But more that Bitty’s your type--not that he isn’t great, just that it never crossed my mind.”

Will spins to look at him, eyebrows raised. He gets his expression back under control with a deep breath. “I don’t really have a type, anyway. There are just . .  people I like.” He glances to the side, but his gaze returns almost immediately.

“That’s chill,” Derek says, because he really thinks it is, but also just to be an asshole.

Will shoves him and he bumps into someone walking the other direction, apologizing after their back even though they’ve already stormed off.

People he likes, Derek thinks, and tries not to speculate. But then, he starts looking for it.

\---

Holster tells everyone that Ransom is in coral reef mode again and they need to tread carefully. It’s the tail end of midterm season, but apparently Ransom has been unlucky and ended up with a lot of his really close together.

Derek is completely done, so he’s been going over to the Haus to help anyone procrastinate when they feel like it. The idea of disturbing Ransom makes him nervous, though. Both for Ransom’s response and for Holster’s.

He tries really hard to kind of skirt the edges of the study zones. Will has one more exam left, and is pretty stressed about it, but a normal kind of stressed. Derek’s trying to avoid that, as well.

So of course the two converge at once. Holster goes out to get some food--Bitty’s studying, or pretending to study, as he confessed to Derek, so Holster has taken it upon himself, offering to feed everyone.

Will goes into the kitchen for his caffeine fix first, though, and pauses to sit down at the table.

“What are you doing here?” he asks Derek, mostly without inflection.

And it hits Derek, all at once, what he’s doing here: he’s lonely. Isn’t that pathetic? He wanted to still feel like a part of something, even though he was done while everyone else was still suffering, even though he could be at the parties with all of the other people whose exams are also done, or who had projects or essays instead.

“Hanging out,” Derek replies. He refocuses on his computer screen where he’s apparently scrolling through tumblr, so he probably shouldn’t say that.

Will looks completely unconvinced. Before he can express this with words, Ransom sits at the table with them.

“Um, hey,” Derek says automatically.

Ransom’s eyes are wide, and he’s shaking a little. Derek knows from overhearing that Holster usually employs a weird strategy of well-timed breaks and tough love, but Derek himself isn’t good at either of those things.

“Hi,” Ransom says, after a while. “Fuck this exam in particular.”

He’s calmer than Derek is used to.

“Fuck fuck FUCKING SHIT.”

Well, maybe not.

Will looks much more concerned than usual. He leans forward so he’s looking directly at Ransom, like he’s trying to read his mind through them. It doesn’t work, so he just drops his coffee, a Red Bull, a beer, and a water in front of Ransom, trying to spread them out evenly in front of him so one wasn’t more tempting due to proximity.

Derek watches, curious and a little terrified, as Ransom slams the beer and Will replaces it almost immediately. He sips that one instead. Derek is stunned.

“I’ve been studying with them sometimes,” Will explains, when the silence becomes unbearable. “Holster still throws things at me sometimes, but I at least try to help.”

Ransom is staring at his computer screen again, suddenly refocused. Will looks over at him, weirdly calm and almost fond. He leaves, taking the caffeinated beverages with him, and Derek follows him quickly, muttering something at Ransom to at least try not to be rude.

“You’ve been trying to help Rans this whole time,” Derek accuses Will.

“I mean, I might not understand exactly what he’s going for, but it can’t have escaped your notice that I can be described as ‘high-strung’ too.”

Chill, Poindexter, Derek thinks.

“So I just wanted to help,” Will continues. He’s red, maybe angry and maybe embarrassed, except Derek knows this expression. He remembers it well.

“You _like_ him,” he realizes out loud, too loudly, in fact.

Will shushes him. “Dude, are you serious? Do not disturb the ecosystem.”

“. . . You really have been studying with them if you’re talking like this. And you didn’t deny it.”

“Nurse. You’re pan. You have eyes. You can’t blame me for being a little into some of the people on our team. And then we’re forced to get to know each other and everyone is . . . still great. So, yes. Chirp me if you must.” Will stands taller, defiantly. Derek’s slouching, so it makes Will appear taller.

Derek thinks this over, making Will wait. “Of course not. It’s not like I haven’t noticed, either.”

“You’re pretty good at hiding it,” Will mutters, walking back into the kitchen just as Holster gets there.

“Oh good, you’ve got a beer,” he says to Ransom. “I forgot to offer one before I left.” He drops the bags of food on the table, which signals the rest of the studying members of the Haus to congregate in the kitchen.

Derek eats with them, the previous emptiness he felt receding slightly, even when he can’t join in on the study conversations anymore.

\---

Shortly after exams, Derek walks into the Haus to find Lardo’s new candidate sitting with Ransom, Holster, Will, and Lardo, filling out an official form to take over.

“Isn’t this too early?” Derek wonders aloud.

“Never too early,” Will responds, not even looking up. He’s clearly the odd man out, no reason to be a part of this. Derek wonders if it’s Lardo or Ransom and Holster who are being nice enough to assuage some of his anxiety by letting him join.

“I’m all set,” the new recruit says, smiling sunnily. Derek thinks he’s probably going to like her.

“She’s great,” Holster says.

“I like her a lot,” Ransom agrees.

“What are we going to do without you?” Will complains to Lardo.

“Dex, bro, this has been really touching and _really_ unexpected coming from you, but you know she can text me when she needs me? You know that _you_ can text me whenever you want to.”

Will looks away and his eyes catch on Derek’s for just a second and . . . no fucking way.

“Lardo?” he asks Will.

“Yeah?” Lardo answers, defensively.

“I like your shirt,” he says. He _does_ like her shirt, noticed it when he came in, and is glad that it must have been swimming around in the back of his mind, waiting to come out, instead of anything that might incriminate Will.

“Thanks. I got it at that thrift shop, you know the one.” Derek does know the one. His parents would hate it, so he goes there a lot.

“Can I talk to you,” Will says, more like a statement than a question, as he grabs Derek’s wrist and takes him up the stairs to the hallway up there.

“Dude,” Derek says, because he’s just so incredibly amused by this situation. “Lardo? So girls are fine too--wait, you don’t have to tell me; it’s none of my business.”

“Yeah, man, I’m bi, probably,” Will cuts him off.

“Sweet,” Derek responds. “Lardo, though? I just wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Isn’t that what you said about Bitty? Besides, they both create things. I think that’s pretty cool. Among everything else.”

I create things, Derek thinks.

“They do both have a lot of everything,” Derek chirps, except that he’s mostly agreeing. “Except height.”

Will snorts. “You know I don’t discriminate on that, either.”

“True, true. Man, Poindexter, full of surprises.”

That makes Will turn red again, almost like with Bitty. He rolls his eyes, though, as if that’s going to make him look properly disinterested, and says, “Shut up.”

There’s so little force behind it that it almost doesn’t sound like William Poindexter.

“Really is a nice shirt, though,” Derek whispers, conspiratorially.

“Excellent color for her,” Will agrees.

\---

They manage to make it a week without it happening again.

Except that computer science courses have apparently come to the decision that projects right after midterms work pretty well. From the very, very little that Derek understands about programming, he can tell that usually it’s Chowder who’s helping Will out.

This time, it’s a project that appeals more to Will’s special skillset, and he spends a solid three hours helping Chowder, even after finishing his own project early. Derek is charmed, and so, so fucked. He even just likes watching them together, how Will’s hard edges soften around Chowder in a way that they don’t around anyone else, even Bitty.

“Thank you so much!” Chowder exclaims, throwing his arms around Will’s neck. Will breathes in, and Derek figures Chowder smells pretty good right now, fresh from the shower. Will freezes up hardcore for ten full seconds before he gets his arms around his waist. Luckily Chowder’s hugs always last for a long time, long enough to accommodate his hesitation.

They’re in Will’s room, because his roommate has gone home for the weekend. Derek immediately and irrationally feels like he’s intruding, at least until Chowder pulls away slowly. In Derek’s experience, it was probably due to a cue on Will’s part, rather than Chowder’s own genuine desire to end the hug.

“I have to get going but I owe you coffee! Let’s go to Annie’s after class next week, OK?”

Chowder leaves without getting a response, but Derek can read it on Will’s face.

“OK,” Will answers anyway. There’s that look again

Derek is thrilled.

“Don’t tell me--” he starts.

“ _Please_ don’t say anything to him!” Will begs.

“This is just too fucking good though,” Derek argues. Well, not that he wants to tell Chowder.

“Don’t act like it’s ridiculous,” Will snaps, and this is the angry red, not the fun one.

“Dude, no, that’s so not what I meant. Please don’t kill me for saying this. I just . . . that’s so cute I could die.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Will replies immediately, but his face has changed already.

“You guys hang out all the time, sometimes with me, sometimes with the whole team, sometimes with Farmer! You have classes together. And you have a crush on him.” Derek is practically giddy; this is the best thing to ever happen to him.

“I know it’s not going to go anywhere, and it’s not like I’m just waiting around hoping,” Will defends himself.

“Seriously, I know that. I’m not making fun of you. I really do think it’s great. Chowder’s so great; he deserves to be appreciated.”

“Oh,” Will says softly. “He is, though. By a lot of people. And his friendship is really important to me--I don’t deserve it--and like I’m trying to prove that, my brain just has to betray me and him and think of him like that.”

“Shit, man, you can’t think of it like that! You really think Chowder would mind? He’d be fucking honored, OK?”

“How do you know?” Will asks miserably.

Because I would be, Derek thinks.

“Just trust me,” Derek answers, before he really thinks about it, remembers that’s not a part of their relationship.

But something about Will looks more certain, then. Derek tries not to think about it too hard. He completely fails.

\---

Holster picks Will up one day to prove a point, that he’s not just grabbing the smallest dude in the vicinity (Bitty) to show off his strength constantly.

“If Jack were here, I’d really show you,” Holster insists, dropping Will on his feet next to Derek.

Will is flushed, this time just from the blood rush to his head that accompanied being upside-down. But there’s that look again.

“I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“I told you it wasn’t about people being small,” Will mumbles, through his embarrassment.

“You, um, kind of seemed like you didn’t mind being picked up?” Derek asked, because it’s not polite to imply that someone was super into something that they were kind of forced into experiencing, at least in Derek’s opinion.

“Please let’s talk about anything else,” Will pleads. Despite his words, he leads them to the basement, like he knows they’re going to keep talking about things they don’t want overheard.

Derek tries, he really does, but he only strays to one, very related tangent.

“Is your list everyone but me?” he can’t help but ask.

Will gives him a long, searching, startled look. “No, you’re on there.”

Derek . . . wasn’t expecting that. But if he’d hoped for it, he hadn’t anticipate that it would still include a sense of crushing disappointment. “Well, at least I’m not worse than everyone else.”

“Fuck that; you’re miles ahead of them.”

“Wait, what?” Derek asks, without thinking.

“Look, you can be into people, and sort of want to kiss them a little, and think they’re pretty great, or you can like someone and want to argue with them all the time and consider their perspective while they think about yours, and you can become better by talking to them and help them, too, and want to wake up next to them. You know, in theory.” Will looks away.

Derek is speechless.

“I’ll just . . . go, then,” Will says, turning slowly.

Derek grabs his wrist, but he still can’t come up with anything to say. He just holds on, feels the warmth and softness of the skin against his fingers, and closes his eyes. He pulls, a little, and meets no resistance; Will moves willingly to stand in Derek’s space, closer even than when they’re arguing.

Something about the proximity makes Derek brave again. “I know exactly what that’s like,” he says finally. It’s vague, but he still has a tiny, nagging feeling that maybe he isn’t that one person for Will that Will is for him.

Will puts a hand on the side of Derek’s face, and it feels like a warning, back away if you don’t want this. He leans into it, and Will kisses him.

Both of them are still hesitating. Derek has literally seen Will kiss people he’s just met harder than this, but Derek, for his part, is terrified. Scared that one wrong move will end this for good.

Being too still would have the same effect, though, so Derek just slows down some of his regular moves, extremely gentle lip biting, dragging in just the right way. Derek just wants people to love kissing him as much as he likes kissing other people.

Will moans, which is just about the biggest success of Derek’s life, and he opens his mouth to deepen the kiss even further, all the while maintaining the slow, easy pace.

Derek pulls away, panting, overwhelmed.

“So you meant me, then?” he asks.

Will doesn’t look much better, but he still manages a small smile.

“I guess we’ll see.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chowder, Will, and Derek have finished their homework, and ended up just sitting around in Chowder’s room, aimlessly chatting, clearly not wanting to separate yet. Somehow they’ve gotten onto the topic of crushes in high school, which isn’t even Derek’s fault, though Will keeps shooting him glares when Chowder isn’t paying attention. Chowder’s talking, not really complaining, but maybe being a bit more wistful than usual.

“I’m just not the kind of person people have crushes on. I mean, I had to crash into Caitlin to meet her--thanks for that, by the way, Dex.”

Will has been fighting an internal battle this whole conversation, so he just nods in acknowledgement. Derek is occupied trying to catch his eye and trying not to laugh. There’s a part of Dex that wants to laugh, too, but mostly he’s just feeling the blood rush to his face and weighing his long term pride against Chowder’s current, temporary happiness.

Chowder’s happiness still wins, always, so he finds himself doing possibly the dumbest thing he could do in the moment.

“I had a crush on you--um, have a crush on you,” Will mumbles, looking apologetically at Derek even though he _knows_ , can’t have expected that these things have just gone away.

Derek gapes at him. “After all that effort I put into keeping your secret!”

“You were about to die laughing,” Will grumbles, looking only at Derek for fear of any sort of eye contact with Chowder.

“You’re serious,” Chowder breathes. “Oh my gosh, if I had known. If I ever did anything that made you feel uncomfortable I’m so sorry, I would have asked how to act if I had known but of course you weren’t required to tell me and,” Chowder pauses to take a break.

“Chill, C,” Derek interrupts; for once Will isn’t mad about it. “It doesn’t always have to be a huge deal.”

“I just wanted you to know you are that type of person. For me,” Will added, still generally wishing the ground would open up and swallow him whole. “Obviously I don’t expect you to do anything, and I wouldn’t either.”

“I don’t know what kind of relationship you guys have and I didn’t want to judge and--really? Me?” Chowder gestures vaguely between himself and Will.

There it is, the reason that Will is putting himself through this. “Of course really you.”

“I kind of want to hug you right now,” Chowder admits.

Will throws his hands up, exasperated. “You can still hug me.”

“Yeah, he’ll _really_ like it,” Derek chirps.

“Oh my god,” Will groans, about to put his head in his hands but instead it hits Chowder’s shoulder where he’s leaning down to get his arms around Will, who stands up almost immediately to improve their positioning. And yes, OK, he does really like it.

Chowder suddenly presses up against him much more firmly than he _ever_ has before, and Will definitely notices; so, it seems, does Derek, when Will opens his eyes to check over Chowder’s shoulder. Eventually he pulls back, grinning.

When Will can speak again, he trains his eyes on Chowder. “Tease!” he accuses, still shocked.

Chowder just laughs. “You really do have a crush on me! I can’t wait to tell--oh, I shouldn’t tell anybody.”

“You can tell Farmer,” Will allows, exhausted already. What more does he have to lose? “If you think it won’t bother her, I mean. And if she won’t say anything. I don’t want to make you have weird secrets in your relationship because of me.”

“Caitlin understands that I have secrets with my friends! But, um, I might tell her if you’re really OK with it. Just because otherwise I’ll have to try really hard not to! But I’d do that if you wanted! You’re my best friend! Well, both of you.”

“Thanks, C. It’s really fine.”

“Thanks, Dex!” Chowder exclaims, grinning in the easy way he does all the time, which still makes Will’s heart beat a little faster, every damn time. “I have to go, but you guys can hang out here and do whatever while I’m gone! I’ll be back in a few hours!”

He shuts his own door after himself.

Will narrows his eyes. “Did Chowder just imply that we could have sex in his room?”

Derek scanned his gaze over Will, head to toe, and Will could feel warmth in its wake. “Probably,” Derek answers, “But right now I just want this.”

He hugs Will way closer than Chowder had, and it’s completely different; he’s immediately more comfortable, feeling safer and calmer, until Derek’s hands are in his back pockets pulling them flush against each other, and it’s something else entirely, just as good. He’s excited but without the nervousness, sure of himself and confident.

“You’d totally do something with C under the right circumstances,” Derek whispers in his ear. “Anyone on the team, probably.”

“100%,” Will replies, because he knows what “right circumstances” mean, knows that Derek knows he’d never cheat on him.

Derek laughs loudly. “Me, too,” he confesses. “You’re right, our team is fucking great. I’m a little into everyone.”

“What the hell, how do you hide it so well?” Will complains.

Derek pulls back enough to look directly at his face.

“Chill, Poindexter.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have crushes on most of my friends. IT’S SO NORMAL RIGHT?
> 
>  
> 
> ~~his biggest other crush is Bitty OBVIOUSLY~~
> 
>  
> 
> Please comment anything! Especially criticism; go nuts. I'd love to hear from you.
> 
> Find me on tumblr as [loveandallthat](http://loveandallthat.tumblr.com/)! I take prompts for tons of fandoms and pairings.


End file.
